Bail

A person on bail must return to the police station or go to court at a particular time and on a particular day. It is a criminal offence to fail to attend the police station or court at the right date and time without a good reason.

The police¹ or a court² have the power to grant bail.  Bail can be unconditional or conditional.

Bail applications for children are different from adults for three reasons:

• The youth offending team (YOT) have a duty to provide information and bail support, as well as supervision packages created for the individual child.
• If bail is refused the child will be remanded to local authority accommodation unless the specific conditions are met to justify sending the child to youth detention accommodation (custody).³
• The police⁴ and the courts⁵ should always consider the child’s welfare. This means a child is more likely to get bail than an adult and the court will consider repeated bail applications.⁶

1. Section 37 Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984  (back)
2. Section 4 Bail Act 1976  (back)
3. Section 98 and 99 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. Also see LASPO 2012: The New Remand Framework, Ministry of Justice Circular No. 2012/06  (back)
4. Section 11 Children Act 2004  (back)
5. Section 44 Children and Young Persons Act 1933  (back)
6. Paragraph 17, R (B) Brent Youth Court [2010] EWHC 1893 (Admin)  (back)